Jeremiah 50
50
Prophecy against Babylon
1This is what the LORD said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah:
2Tell the nations;
proclaim it far and wide!
Set up a flag;
proclaim it far and wide!
Hold nothing back;
just shout it:
“Babylon is captured;
Bel is shamed;
Marduk is panic-stricken.
Her images are shamed;
her idols are panic-stricken.”
3A nation from the north
has risen up against her.
It will decimate her land,
and no one will live in it.
Every living thing will flee.
4In those days and at that time,
declares the LORD,
the people of Israel and Judah
will come out of Babylon#50.4 Heb lacks of Babylon. together;
with weeping they will leave
as they seek the LORD their God.
5They will search for Zion,
turning their faces toward it.
They will come#50.5 Heb uncertain and
unite with the LORD,
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.
6My people were lost sheep;
their shepherds led them astray;
they deserted them on the mountains,
where they wandered off among the hills,
forgetting their resting place.
7All who found them devoured them;
and their attackers said,
“It’s not our fault,
because they have sinned against the LORD,
the true pasture,#50.7 Or righteous dwelling place
the hope of their ancestors—the LORD.”
8Now wander far from Babylon.
Get out of that country.
Like rams of the flock,
lead the way home.
9I’m stirring up against Babylon
a coalition of mighty nations.
It will mobilize in the north,
and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of an expert archer
who does not return empty-handed.
10Babylon will be defeated;
its attackers will carry off all that they want,
declares the LORD.
11Sure, you gloat and rejoice,
you plunderers of my possession.
Sure, you dance around like a calf
and neigh like a stallion.
12But Mother Babylon#50.12 Or your mother will be humiliated;
the one who bore you will be disgraced.
She will become the least of the nations:
a wilderness, a desert, and parched land.
13Because of the LORD’s anger,
no one will live there;
she will be reduced to total ruin.
All who pass by Babylon will be shocked;
they will gasp at all her injuries.
14Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you archers;
now shoot at her;
save none of your arrows,
because she’s sinned against the LORD.
15Raise a victory shout against her on every side!
She’s surrendered;
her towers have collapsed;
her walls are destroyed.
This is the LORD’s retribution;
now pay her back:
do to her what she’s done to others!
16Cut Babylon off from those who plant
and those who harvest the crops,
because of its ruthless sword.#50.16 Heb uncertain
Now return, all of you, to your people;
flee to your homeland!
17Israelites are scattered sheep,
driven away by lions.
First the king of Assyria devoured them,
and now Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar has ravaged them.#50.17 Or gnawed their bones
18Therefore, the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:
I’m going to punish the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19But I will restore Israel to their pasture;
they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
they will eat their fill
in the highlands of Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days and at that time,
declares the LORD,
if one searches for the sin of Israel,
they will find nothing;
if one seeks out the wrongdoing of Judah,
they will look in vain.
I will forgive those I have spared.
21Attack the land of Merathaim;#50.21 Or Double rebellion
crush those living in Pekod.
Ruin and destroy them,
declares the LORD;
do all I have commanded you.
22There’s the sound of war in the land
and enormous devastation.
23How the hammer of the whole earth
has been broken and shattered into pieces!
How Babylon has become a wasteland
among the nations!
24You set a trap for others, Babylon,#50.24 Or I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were
but you yourself were caught in it unaware;
you have been found and captured
because you have defied the LORD.
25The LORD has opened his arsenal
and brought out his brutal weapons.
The LORD God of heavenly forces
has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26Come against her from every side;
throw open her granaries;
pile her up like stalks of grain;
totally destroy her;
leave nothing intact.
27Destroy all her bulls;
prepare them for slaughter.
How terrible for them!
Their time has come,
the day of reckoning.
28A voice of fugitives and refugees,
from the land of Babylon,
declaring in Zion
the retribution of the LORD our God
because of what has been done to his temple.
29Send the archers against Babylon,
all who draw the bow!
Surround her
and let no one escape.
Pay her back for her deeds;
do to her what she’s done to others.
She has acted arrogantly toward the LORD,
the holy one of Israel!
30Therefore, her soldiers will fall in the streets;
all her warriors will be silenced on that day,
declares the LORD.
31I’m against you, you arrogant one!
declares the LORD God of heavenly forces.
Your day has come,
your time of reckoning.
32The arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and no one will help her up.
I’ll set your cities on fire,
and it will consume all that’s around her.
33The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims:
The people of Israel were oppressed,
together with the people of Judah.
Their captors held them
and refused to let them go.
34Yet their redeemer is strong;
the LORD of heavenly forces is his name.
He will surely defend their cause
and give them rest in the land.
But he will unsettle the people of Babylon.
35A sword against Babylon and its people,
declares the LORD,
along with its officials and sages.
36A sword against its diviners
so that they become fools.
A sword against its warriors
so that they are terrified.
37A sword against its horses and chariots,
and the mercenaries#50.37 Or foreigners in its midst
so that they lose courage.#50.37 Or become like women
A sword against its treasures
so that they are looted.
38A sword#50.38 Or A drought against the water supplies
so that they dry up.
It is truly the land of idols,
idols about which they have gone utterly mad!
39Therefore, Babylon will become a ghost town,
a place for desert animals,
hyenas, and ravenous birds.#50.39 Heb uncertain
No one will live there again;
no one will make it their home.
40Just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,
declares the LORD,
so no one will live in Babylon
or settle there again.
41Look! An army is on the move
from the northern regions.
A powerful nation and many kings are coming
from the ends of the earth.
42Equipped with bow and spear,
they are cruel and show no mercy.
Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea,
arrayed in battle formation against you,
Daughter Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard reports of them
and is panic-stricken;
distress overwhelms him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44Like a lion coming up from
the jungle of the Jordan
to a well-watered meadow,#50.44 Heb uncertain
so I will suddenly chase down Babylon
and single out its choicest of rams.
Who is like me?
Who can direct me?
What shepherd can withstand me?
45Therefore, listen to the counsel
that the LORD has for Babylon
and the plans he’s devised
against the land of Babylon:
The little ones of the flock
will be dragged off,
as their pasture watches
in utter disbelief.#50.45 Heb uncertain
46The earth quakes
at the sound of Babylon’s capture;
its screams echo throughout the world.
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Jeremiah 50: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 50
50
1 THE WORD that the Lord spoke concerning and against Babylon and concerning and against the land of the Chaldeans through Jeremiah the prophet: [Isa. 13:1-14:23; 47; Hab. 1, 2.]
2 Declare it among the nations and publish it and set up a signal [to spread the news]–publish and conceal it not; say, Babylon has been taken; Bel [the patron god] is put to shame, Merodach (Bel) is dismayed and broken down. [Babylon's] images are put to shame, her [senseless] idols are thrown down!
3 For out of the north there has come up a nation [Media] against her which will make her land desolate, and none will dwell there. They will have fled, they will be gone–from man even to beast.
4 In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall come up weeping as they come and seek the Lord their God [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him, both by right of necessity and of the promises of God's Word].
5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces in that direction, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6 My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray [to favorite places of idolatry] on mountains [that seduce]. They have gone from [one sin to another] mountain to hill; they have forgotten their [own] resting-place. [Isa. 53:6; I Pet. 2:25.]
7 All who found them devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord [and are no longer holy to Him], their true habitation of righteousness and justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.
8 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans; and be as the he-goats [who serve as examples and as leaders in the flight] before the flocks. [Jer. 51:6, 9, 45; II Cor. 6:17; Rev. 18:4.]
9 For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. They will equip and set themselves against her; from there she will be taken. Their arrows will be like [both] an expert, mighty warrior and like his arrows–none [of them] will return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall become plunder; all who plunder her shall be satisfied, says the Lord.
11 Though you are glad, though you rejoice, O you who plunder My heritage, though you are wanton and skip about like a heifer at grass and neigh like strong stallions,
12 Your mother [Babylon] shall be put to great shame; she who bore you shall blush and be disgraced. Behold, she shall be at the rear of the nations [least of the nations]–a wilderness, waste, and desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited but shall be wholly desolate; everyone who goes by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss and mock at all her wounds and plagues.
14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you archers. Shoot at her! Spare not the arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Raise the battle cry against her round about! She gives her hand [in agreement] and surrenders; her supports and battlements fall, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; as she has done [to others], do to her.
16 Exterminate the sower from Babylon, and the one who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the sword of the oppressor everyone shall return to his people, and everyone shall flee to his own land.
17 Israel is a hunted and scattered sheep [driven hither and thither and preyed upon by savage beasts]; the lions have chased him. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken and gnawed his bones.
18 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit and punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I visited and punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel [home] again to his fold and pasturage, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan [in the most fertile districts both west and east], and his soul will be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel will be sought, but there will be none, and the sins of Judah [will be sought], but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I cause to remain as a remnant (the preserved ones who come forth after a long tribulation). [Isa. 1:9; 43:25; Jer. 31:34; 33:8; Rom. 9:27.]
21 Go up against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim [two rebellions, double or intense defiance], even against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod [visitation and punishment]. Slay and utterly destroy them, says the Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 The cry and noise of battle is in the land, and [the noise] of great destruction.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth is crushed and broken! How Babylon has become a horror of desolation among the nations!
24 I set a trap for you, and you also were taken, O Babylon, and you did not know it; you were found and also caught because you have struggled and contended against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened His armory and has brought forth [the nations who unknowingly are] the weapons of His indignation and wrath, for the Lord God of hosts has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from every quarter and from the utmost border. Open her granaries and storehouses; pile up [their contents] like heaps of rubbish. Burn and destroy her utterly; let nothing be left of her.
27 Slay all her bullocks (her choice youths, the strength of her army); let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to [the Chaldeans]! For their day has come, the time of their visitation (their inspection and punishment).
28 Listen! The voice of those [Jews] who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon proclaiming in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance [of the Lord upon the Chaldeans] for [the plundering and destruction of] His temple.
29 Call together [many] archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her round about; let none from there escape. Recompense her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her. For against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel, has she been proudly defiant and presumptuous.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets and squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord.
31 Behold, I am against you, O Babylon [you who are pride and presumption personified], says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will visit and punish you.
32 And Pride (the arrogant one) shall stumble (totter) and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are round about him.
33 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; all who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name. He will surely and thoroughly plead their case and defend their cause, that He may give rest to [the land of Israel and to the Babylonian-enslaved nations of] the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword upon the Chaldeans, says the Lord–upon the inhabitants of Babylon and upon her princes (rulers in civic matters) and upon her wise men (the astrologers and rulers in religious affairs)!
36 A sword upon the babbling liars (the diviners), that they may become fools! A sword upon her mighty warriors, that they may be dismayed and destroyed!
37 A sword upon their horses and upon their chariots and upon all the mixed foreign troops that are in the midst of her, that they may become [as weak and defenseless as] women! A sword upon her treasures, that they may be plundered!
38 A sword and a drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols (objects of terror in which they foolishly trust).
39 Therefore wild beasts of the desert shall dwell [in Babylon] with the jackals, and ostriches shall dwell there. And it shall never again be inhabited with people, even from generation to generation. [Isa. 13:20-22.]
40 As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, says the Lord, so no man shall dwell there; neither shall any son of man live there temporarily. [Jer. 49:18.]
41 Behold, a people is coming from the north; and a great nation and many kings are stirring from the uttermost parts of the earth.
42 They lay hold of bow, lance, and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy or compassion. They sound like the roaring of the sea; they ride upon horses, every man equipped like a man [ready] for the battle against you, O Daughter of Babylon!
43 The king of Babylon has heard the news about them, and his hands fall feeble and helpless; anguish has seized him, and pangs like that of a woman in childbirth.
44 See, there comes up one like a lion from the jungles (the pride) of the Jordan against the strong habitation [of Babylon] and into the permanent pasturage and sheepfold; for in a twinkling I will drive him [Babylon] from there. And I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me? And who will challenge Me and prosecute Me for this proceeding? And what [earthly, national] shepherd can stand before Me and defy Me? [Jer. 49:19.]
45 Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has made against Babylon, and His purposes which He has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall be dragged away, even the little ones of the flock; surely He shall make their habitation desolate because of them and their fold amazed and appalled at their fate.
46 At the cry, Babylon has been taken! the earth shall tremble, and the cry shall be heard among the nations.
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